About the MIFA Institute

The MIFA Institute

The MIFA Institute is the consumer education arm of the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance (MIFA). The Institute aims to provide programs that support consumer education and awareness about medical identity theft and the resulting fraud.

We recognize that medical identity theft and fraud are unique.
Sitting at the intersection of traditional identity theft and our sensitive protection health information (PHI) is a treasure trove for the bad guys. Medical identity fraud not only involves all the headaches that accompany traditional ID theft, but also the severe dangers of having your medical information corrupted with that of an identity thief. This can have extremely negative health outcomes if you are misdiagnosed, receive incorrect healthcare or incorrect medication due to confusion about your true health status.

Concurrent with the work done through MIFA and its Members and Partners to enable the healthcare industry to reduce the incidence of medical identity theft and fraud, the MIFA Institute strives to empower consumers to be their own best advoocate for their health/medical privacy and identity.

The Institute does not expend resources to fight all identity fraud, nor all healthcare fraud. We concentrate our expertise and resources solely on the unique intersection between healthcare and our identities, particularly our electronic identities in an ever-increasing cyber-connected environment.

Mission

MIFA Institute’s mission is to further public interest by serving as a national resource on consumer-related issues associated with medical identity fraud.

Getting It Done – Working for Consumers

We accomplish our goals through industry-wide collaboration with stakeholders in the healthcare industry, such as healthcare providers, health insurance plans and the business associates who provide valuable services to the sector. Many of our collaborators are MIFA Members and Partners who are passionate about helping their patients, health plan members and clients understand the dangers of medical identity fraud and how to protect themselves. These companies are earnest in their endeavors to protect patient privacy and secure our sensitive health information against fraudsters.

We also work with consumer advocates, law enforcement, government and legislative bodies to ensure the best consumer protections are being brought to the healthcare industry.

Please visit our Consumer Resources information to learn ways to protect yourself or for help if you believe you’ve been a victim of medical identity fraud.

MIFA Institute Board of Directors

Chairman and President, Florida Blue

Secretary, North-Shore-LIJ Health System

Director, ID Experts

Director, Henry Ford Health System

The Institute is a charitable, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Learn How to Manage Medical ID Fraud

Industry Wisdom on Medical ID Fraud

Healthcare Industry Wisdom on Medical Identity Fraud offers food-for-thought on how healthcare organizations can implement and improve their anti-fraud programs. The paper spans across a variety of topics including fraud management, health IT issues and patient authentication.

Survey on Medical ID Theft

TESTIMONIALS

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is proud to be a founding member of MIFA. Anyone can be a victim of medical identity theft and most individuals do not understand how it occurs, how to minimize their risk, or where to go for assistance. That is why the ITRC is committed to building awareness and educational tools for consumers and the medical community through various partnerships, such as MIFA.

Eva Casey Velasquez, President/CEO, CIPA

Join Us

Participation is open to all healthcare ecosystem stakeholders, including: health plans and healthcare providers; associations/consumer organizations; law enforcement and government agencies; academia and private research; and industry and technology service providers. Visit our Membership page or Contact Us.